


Always Safe Here

by scarlettsoldier



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, The Avengers Are Good Bros, They Will Protect You, You Have A Shitty Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-02
Updated: 2016-07-02
Packaged: 2018-07-19 13:28:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7363174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarlettsoldier/pseuds/scarlettsoldier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You have always had a bad family life- that much has always been true.  However, you are about to find that the family that you are born with is not the only family that you'll have.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Always Safe Here

**Author's Note:**

> I am so sorry if you are going through this. All of you are lovely, beautiful human beings inside and out and I would love to get to know each and every one of you. All of you are worth it- I promise. If you ever need anything, ever, please don’t hesitate to talk to my. I love you all! Oh, and if you squint, you can see a Shrek reference because I am a dork.

It had been a bad week to say the very least. First you failed your first test- which you tried your very hardest on, then you sprained your ankle during gym- dodgeball is brutal, and your classmates had been relentlessly calling you chubby. You hated every minute of it. Now it was finally friday and you were just relieved to be home, even if it meant that you had to put up with your family. You were relieved, until your family started talking to you.  
“God, (y/n), can you ever do anything right?”  
Currently you were helping your mother set up the table for dinner, ‘like a good daughter’ she called it, when your ankle brace got caught on the foot of the table, causing you- and the food- to fall. “Shit!” You yelped as you crashed to the floor. Your whole right side ached when it collided with the ground, and you could already hear your mother chastising you from the kitchen. Could the night get any worse?  
“(Y/n)! Watch your tongue! And clean that mess up right now!” Your mother snipped, not even looking away from her place at the stove. She didn’t even ask to see if you were alright, or if your ankle was okay, or if any of the shattered porcelain pieces of plate cut you. Which it did, by the way. In all honesty, you wanted to cry.   
You picked yourself up off the floor, holding in a groan, before pulling out the small shard of porcelain plate from your hand; the white shard now covered in blood. You moved over to the kitchen cabinet, grabbing a dustpan and broom along with a some paper towels for your hand- your mother would be angry if you used an actual towel to dry your blood.   
Your wrapped your hand up with the thin paper towel before starting to clean up the mess you made on the floor. It was then when your father walked through the front door; as soon as he passed through the threshold of the house you knew there was going to be trouble. His brows were furrowed in agitation and his hair was disheveled- obviously he had a long day at the office. And if there was one thing you knew, if it was a long day at the office, it would be a long, agonizing night for you.  
“Honey, what is this mess?” He narrowed his eyes as he walked into the dining room, taking in the sight of you cleaning up the mess you had accidentally made.   
“It’s just (y/n) being (y/n) again. What a klutz!” Your mother answered sweetly to him.  
He walked to your mother, shoving your side a bit as he walked by before bending down to give her a kiss. Oh, how much they loved each other. Oh, how you wished that they loved you.  
Before long you had finally finished cleaning up the mess, and by then there was already dinner on the table. “Thank you, mom, for dinner.” You said as you slid into your seat across from her.   
“It would have been done sooner if someone wasn’t such a klutz.” She replied, pursing her lips before sighing. “Well, what’s done is done. Let’s eat.”  
You patiently waited for everyone else to grab their food before picking your own. As you shoveled a two pieces of chicken and some peas onto your plate your mom let out a disapproving noise. Your father shared a look with her before saying, “Sweetie, you know you shouldn’t eat two pieces of chicken and all those peas, right?”  
That was it. You’d had enough. “Oh my god!” You yelled, not caring who heard you; you were so close to losing it that you just didn’t care anymore. “Come on you guys! Can’t you just give me a break?”  
“(Y/n)! Watch your tone around your mother!” Your father fired back.  
“I should watch my tone? You guys are always treating me horribly and you ask me to watch my tone?” You couldn’t stand it any longer. You pushed your chair back and marched towards the door- you had had enough.  
“(Y/n)! You get back here right now!” Your mother shouted, but the words went right over your head. You heard a chair scrape against the floor, your father most likely, and you booked it through the hallway. You threw yourself out the door before your father could catch up to you and slammed it behind you.  
“(Y/n)! I will give you to the count of three to open this door or else!”  
‘Oh shit!’ you thought. With that, you started running down the sidewalk, not sparing even one look behind you. You ran and ran, past alleys and stores, until you couldn’t breathe anymore. When you didn’t recognise where you were you decided that you ran far enough, so you let yourself fall down on the sidewalk. You stayed like that for a long time, crying on your hands and knees.  
At one point you heard footsteps approaching, but you couldn’t care less. At this point, you didn’t care about anything or anyone, especially yourself. “Excuse me miss, this is sort of a stupid question, but are you alright?”  
You sat back on your butt to look up at the person- people in front of you. There stood two men- one was very tall and very blonde, and one was shorter with mostly silver hair, both holding a bag of chinese food in their hands. For a fleeting second you worried that they might do something to you, but as you saw the compassion etched onto their faces you quickly dismissed the thought.  
You sniffed in attempt to get any snot off your face before replying, “I’m good, it’s okay.” You gave them the best smile you could muster before looking back down and continuing to cry. How did your life end up like this?  
You heard the sound of plastic bags being exchanged from one hand to the other. Looking through your eyelashes you could see that one of the men was kneeling in front of you now, the silver-haired one to be exact. “You know,” He said softly, “It’s okay to not be okay. Really, it is.”  
You raised your head to meet his blue eyes. “Is it really?” Tears were still streaming down your face, and your nose wouldn’t stop sniffling. “It’s just, I just, I mean, ugh! I can’t even talk!” You started sobbing harder, more out of anger and frustration than anything.  
“Shhh, shhh, it’s going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay prinţesă.” He turned back to the other man for a moment, motioning for him to come closer. “I’m Pietro, and this is my friend Steve. Is there any way we can help you?”  
You smiled at their kindness, looking at them through your teary eyes. ‘How could people be so nice?’ You had never experienced such kindness before- this was all very new to you. You cleared your throat and wiped your eyes before replying. “I, I just don’t think that I can go home right now,” You trailed off, thinking of how mad your family would be at you.  
The two men shared a look before Pietro replied. “You can come with us, we were going to have some chinese food for dinner and you are welcome to join us if you would like..?”   
The fear of being hurt by these two men came back for an instant- these two could be any two random men from off the street. Would you really risk your safety by going with these two, Steve and Pietro? ‘Fuck it,’ you thought, ‘fuck it all!’  
“I’d love that.” You replied softly.  
Pietro stood back up and offered his hand to you, and you gratefully accepted. He pulled you up easily, as if you weighed nothing. You couldn’t help but notice the irony of the situation- your family calling you fat vs. him helping you up as if you were weighed nothing.  
The three of you walked in silence as an occasional tear would stream down your face. You continued to get concerned glances from Steve and Pietro as you walked. Before you knew it, you were walking into a massive building. You didn’t catch a good look at the name of the building due to your eyes still being teary, but this definitely wasn’t a normal building. ‘This isn’t an apartment building…’   
“I hope you don’t mind heights, do you? Our apartment is on a higher floor.” Steve asked tentatively.  
You mumbled an ‘It’s fine’ before you arrived at an elevator that you all stepped in. While the elevator was rising you tried to avoid their worried eyes, and you did for the most part- you were the queen at avoiding eye contact.  
The doors opened with a small ‘ding’ and you looked up to see the edge of a suave living area. The three of you stepped out of the elevator and onto a pristine white rug.  
“Steve, Pietro, what took you so long? We’re starving!” Another male voice shouted from around the corner, and you couldn’t help it as fear spiked through your system. Who were these people?  
“We just got a little held up, that’s all.” Steve replied, glancing down at you.   
“Oh my gosh,” You stuttered. “What am I doing? I didn’t mean to intrude!” Your mother had always told you to be a good guest, and here you were preying on their kindness to invite you over. “I’m so sorry!”  
Steve’s eyes widened as he realized how he worded his response, instant regret filling his features. “Oh no, I didn’t mean it like that, it’s alright! It’s alright!”  
You sniffled, trying to hold yourself together- it had been a long night, after all. By now you were just exhausted, sad, and full of regrets. “Really?”  
“Really, really.” He replied, giving you a soft smile. He offered his hand to you, and you gladly held on. Pietro led the three of you fully into the living area, where quite a few people were sitting. Two women leaning on the kitchen counter looked over to give questioning glances at Steve and Pietro, and a couple men were doing the same from their seats on the couch.  
“Who’s this?” The same voice, er, man asked from the couch.  
Steve walked to the kitchen counter, carefully placing the chinese upon it while Pietro took it upon himself to introduce you. “Guys, this is…”  
“(Y/f/n), (y/f/n), (y/l/n).” You cringed at how your voice cracked while you spoke, suddenly becoming conscious of how bad you must look. You had been lying on the ground for starters, so your clothes were far from clean. Your hair must be all messed up and your face was still puffy and watery from crying. You looked down to your hand, and surprise, surprise, it was still slightly bleeding. Go figure.  
“(Y/n), this is Bucky,” Pietro pointed to the man that had inquired who you were, “ Clint, Bruce, Thor,” He pointed at the rest of the men on the couch before continuing to the girls, “Natasha, and my sister Wanda.” Your ears perked in recognition as you heard the name ‘Thor’. Surely they couldn’t be… could they?  
“Ohmygosh, wait, you’re not, I mean, are you, you know, them?”  
“If by ‘them’ you mean the Avengers, then yes. We are them.” ‘Oh. My. God.’ You turned your head to see none other than Tony Stark leaning in the doorway of the room. “I was wondering what happened to speedy and capsicle over here.”  
You bit your lip, trying to contain a laugh because of Stark’s antics. How lucky could you have been to stumble upon this group of superheroes? “I don’t mean to intrude, I’m sorry to be a b-”  
“Nonsense, the more the merrier!” Tony cut you off, giving you a slight side smile as he talked. He was surprisingly welcoming with what you knew of his reputation- your father had always hated Tony Stark for some odd reason. The man in front of you, however, seemed kind and hospitable enough for you. “Wanda, Nat, would you two like to help clean (y/n) up while we get dinner set up?”  
“Sure, come on Nat!” Wanda exclaimed, smiling at you as she grabbed your hand. The two of them walked you into Wanda’s bedroom where they went to find clothes for you. “Here,” Wanda laid down a purple long-sleeved shirt and black sweatpants for you on the bed. “They may be a bit big, but I’m sure that they’ll be fine.”  
You must have heard her wrong, right? Too big? “Don’t you mean… too small?” You questioned tentatively, not sure if you wanted to hear the answer.   
“What do you mean? Of course you’re smaller than me!” They took note of your surprised face, and Natasha frowned at the thought of you disliking your body.  
Natasha quickly rebounded and told you, “You’re fine, trust me. Now go get changed. It’ll be fine, I promise.”  
You took the clothes and jumped into the bathroom, pretending not to hear the women’s hushed exchange in the other room. To your surprise, not only did Wanda’s clothing fit- it was a bit big on you. You looked at your excited, genuinely happy-looking face in the mirror for a moment before shutting off the light and returning to the bedroom.  
“See prinţesă, you look amazing!” Wanda exclaimed. She and Natasha stood up from the bed and patted you on the back as you three returned to the main living area. Everyone was already spread out across the room with plates in their hands, munching happily on their food. You went to go wait behind the two women to get your food, but they ushered you in front of them.  
“You first, please.” Natasha said, smiling at you. You took a step forward and grabbed a plate and fork before shoveling a small amount onto your plate.  
“You can take more than that, you know. Eating that little is bad for you.” Wanda said from behind you as she looked over your shoulder.   
“Really?” You couldn’t believe that someone was encouraging you to eat more than the morsels you thought you deserved. But, if a superhero told you you could eat more, then you could eat more damn it! You shoveled more food onto your plate until Wanda gave you a nod of approval. You looked down at the pile and couldn’t help but think that it was way too much for you, but you pushed those negative thoughts to the back of your mind.  
You waited until both women also got their food before following them to sit down. You ended up sitting happily between Wanda and Pietro; those two, for some reason, made you feel safe. They made you feel welcome and at home in a sense that you had never felt before, and in all honesty, you liked it.  
By the time everyone was done eating, you had an absolutely full stomach. Usually you would have been ashamed of this, but surrounded by all these positive people you didn’t think it was possible to be sad.  
“So, (Y/n), what’s your story?” All heads turned to Tony where he sat in comfily in his chair. You sighed- you knew all this happiness would have to come to an end sooner or later. Surprisingly Pietro placed his hand on yours and Wanda rubbed your back soothingly.  
“It’s okay,” She whispered encouragingly.   
“I guess I can say that I’ve never had the best family…” You started, closing your eyes to try to escape from the questioning gazes pointed at you. You opened them again, deciding to look out of the window instead of those looking at you. “I don’t ever think they truly loved me. My brother is always telling me how worthless and stupid I am, calling out all my mistakes, and don’t even get me started on my mom,” You paused, taking a deep breath. “It has been a really bad week, in school and at home. I failed my first test, kids were making fun of my weight, and my parents were being as harsh as ever. I came home, just relieved to be done with school for the day, though I knew that it wouldn’t last long. I was trying my best to help out my mother in the kitchen, and when I was setting up the table for dinner my foot hooked on one of the legs and I fell.” You lifted up your pant leg to show your ankle brace, “I had already sprained it in gym earlier in the week.” You blushed a bit. “I’m not that athletic and gym is brutal.”  
“Anyways, so I fell and the plate shattered all over the floor and I accidentally cut myself on one of the shards,” You held up your bloody hand that you had forgotten about. It seemed as though everyone had not noticed it by the amount of concerned looks on their faces. “I never really got to clean it up because my mom made me clean up the mess first, and then my dad came home and they mocked me, and then at the dinner table they, they,” You sniffled, trying to hold back tears. “They tried to tell me to eat less because they thought I was fat.”  
You felt Wanda’s arm around your shoulders, pulling you closer to her. Though you had just met the woman, you already felt safe around her and were glad that you did. “I’d had enough of that shit so I ran. My father tried to chase after me but I ran so far and so fast and I was so lost,” You started to stutter as you talked faster, recalling all of the events that took place earlier in the night. “I ran until I couldn’t anymore, and that’s when Pietro and Steve found me.” You said, looking over at them. “Thank you, by the way.” The pair returned halfhearted smiles at you, as if to say that they were glad that they’d found you.  
After you were finished, the room fell into an uncomfortable silence. Some of them whispered apologies to you while the rest sent you warm smiles. Eventually people started getting up and putting their dishes away, and Pietro took yours for you. You and Bucky were the only two left on the couches- Steve had gladly taken Bucky’s plate to clean. He gave you a small, sad smile and you tried your best to return it. It was then when a tall, black haired person entered the room. He was in odd garbs, and you couldn’t help but think that he looked familiar. He came over to the sitting area and sat on the couch next to yours.  
“Do they care about you?” The man inquired in a soft, soothing voice.  
“What?”  
“I said, do they care about you?”  
You thought for a moment, trying to recall any evidence that your family thought you were any more than a servant to them. “No, I don’t think they do.”  
“Then please try not to take it to heart what they think. Please try your best to block out their hateful words and insults; they should mean nothing to you. You are worth so much more than what they tell you, really.” You were stunned by his words, even more so when you finally realized who you were talking to- Loki, god of mischief and tricks. How could he be so kind to you?  
“I don’t always agree with this guy, but I do right now.” Bucky added from his spot on the couch. “You are a lovely person who tries their best to be good to others, from what I can tell. People like you are worth so much more than you can imagine. People with good hearts like you bring so much into our lives, so don’t think for a second that you are worthless and that you aren’t worth it. You are.” You could feel tears prickling the corners of your eyes as Bucky spoke. You could see it on his face that he’d been through hell and back, so it truly touched your heart that he was telling you such kind things.  
“Thank you guys, really. I cannot thank you enough.”  
“The pleasure is ours, (y/n). Anything we could do to help- name it and we would. We would love to do anything to help. Because you’re worth it. And no matter who is giving you a bad time, no matter where you are, always remember that you can come here.” Loki told you, giving you a small smile at the end.  
One by one the avengers started filing back into the living room, taking their seats around you. Tony coughed a bit, and everyone turned their attention to him. “Mr. Mushy here is right, you know. You always will be welcome here.” The entire team nodded their heads and made sounds of agreement. “And you’ll always be safe here.”


End file.
